Philosophy newbie inquiries, Can anyone give me feedback on my thoughts?

Discuss any topics related to metaphysics (the philosophical study of the principles of reality) or epistemology (the philosophical study of knowledge) in this forum.
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Sculptor1
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Re: Philosophy newbie inquiries, Can anyone give me feedback on my thoughts?

Post by Sculptor1 »

PS
I quote
" Crucially, of course, this sort of truth-seeking strategy would lead one to form lots of false beliefs as well, and that is hardly desirable. "

How, exactly????
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MrChaotic
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Re: Philosophy newbie inquiries, Can anyone give me feedback on my thoughts?

Post by MrChaotic »

Sculptor1 wrote: July 28th, 2020, 7:18 am
MrChaotic wrote: July 28th, 2020, 6:25 am

It doesn't matter if knowledge in the phone-book has any utility or not, that knowledge was the goal in itself, hence epistemically rational since it lead to a true belief about something the agent wanted to know. Whether that knowledge is useful or not for other things is irrelevant
I think you would do well to READ what is written. The assertion is that epistemic ratioanality is best served by filling up with true beliefs regardless of utility. As if all you need is JTB.

The only real problem I can see from the text you quoted is the statement that collecting a whole bunch of epistemically rational, but useless information, would inevitably lead to "false information", which is not supported by anything he says.
But previously he gave examples of two judges. One who was tossing a coin and therefore not condsidered epistemically rational - and -one who was weighing up the evidence in a non biased manner, who therefore was considered epistemically rational. So in the examples he has given it does not seem that epistemic rationality is just concerned with you filling up as many JTB's as possible. In all the examples he has given, the agents who were considered epistemically rational were attributed that virtue by him when they employed the correct epistemic norms for a specific goal, not just any type of knowledge in general.
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Pattern-chaser
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Re: Philosophy newbie inquiries, Can anyone give me feedback on my thoughts?

Post by Pattern-chaser »

MrChaotic wrote: July 26th, 2020, 4:14 pm Suppose that you want to solve a math-problem, then focusing on how to mathematically work it out -(using the correct mathematical rules) - to conclude what the answer is would be the best way form a true belief about what the answer is.
I think the core problem with notions such as this is well-hidden in those two simple words, "true belief". A superficial consideration of true belief says that its meaning is obvious. A deeper analysis reveals problems with "true" - there are whole books of philosophy dedicated to the consideration of truth, what it is and what we mean by it - and also with "belief". This isn't just a 'semantic issue' with vocabulary, or simple pedantry, it's a problem with the actual concepts these words represent.

That's not to say this (above) is the only issue arising from your OP, but I think it will (must) strongly colour any discussion that takes place here, no? 🙄
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Pattern-chaser
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Re: Philosophy newbie inquiries, Can anyone give me feedback on my thoughts?

Post by Pattern-chaser »

chewybrian wrote: July 27th, 2020, 6:37 am There is tendency for those new to philosophy to rush off to the end and try to understand everything all at once. Some people find those questions interesting, but they have few real world applications, and can't usually make your life better. However, way back at the bottom of the pyramid, we gloss over ethics and self-discovery, and the necessary hard work of challenging our assumptions about the nature of the world and human nature.
Yes, whatever we study, and whatever we learn from those studies, if philosophy doesn't apply to the real lives we lead in the real (?) world we inhabit, then what use is it? Well said!
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Pattern-chaser
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Re: Philosophy newbie inquiries, Can anyone give me feedback on my thoughts?

Post by Pattern-chaser »

Sculptor1 wrote: July 28th, 2020, 7:18 am As if all you need is JTB.
Oh yes, I forgot the "J". 😊 Adding "justified" to "true belief" just adds another minefield of misunderstanding and confusion. For this reason I have always found JTB to be an active hindrance to understanding. YMMV.
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